Graduation
by Padfoot Princess
Summary: A songfic about Harry, Hermione, and Ron's graduation. Sad, tear-jerker. Mainly Hermione, being upset.


Hermione stared out over the crowds of people in front of her and felt tears welling in her eyes. She turned to see her two best friends, Ron and Harry, and the tears brimmed, and splashed down her cheeks. And she smiled. She was graduating today, after seven years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her whole class stood, in impeccable gowns of midnight blue, beaming. Albus Dumbledore himself was giving a speech as the family and friends of the graduates watched in awe. Yet it was not her family that Hermione was thinking mostly of now. It was her companions, through it all.

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And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives

Where we're going to be when turn 25

I keep on thinking times will never change

Keep on thinking it will always be the same

Hermione remembered fondly every moment she had shared with Harry and Ron. The fights, the adventures, the good times and the bad. If she were to ever have to leave them…she didn't know what she would do. This graduation was a turning point in their lives, as they stepped forth into adulthood and left the safety of Hogwarts and home behind. Hermione knew that wherever she was, she wanted them with her. 

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But when we leave this year we won't be coming back 

No more hanging out cause we're on a different track 

And if you got something that you need to say 

You better say it right now cause you don't have another day

Hermione knew what she had to tell her two friends. Although friends, she thought, was not a deep enough word to describe her relationship with them. They were her brothers, and they were entwined within her very soul. There hadn't been a minute she had been at Hogwarts when she didn't think of them. And now, if she wasn't careful, it could all end, everything, today. They may never speak again, never handle life together again…and if that happened, Hermione would die. She didn't want them to go down their own paths and forget each other after this graduation. 

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Cause we're moving on and we can't slow down

These memories are playing like a film without sound

And I keep thinking of that night in June

I didn't know much of love

But it came too soon

This day, Hermione thought, had come too soon. They couldn't live together anymore, couldn't share everything anymore, and couldn't relate the same way. It was too much. She had to speak with them, here, after the graduation because she wouldn't let them slip away. They were too precious, too near to her heart to leave! They had too much of her, had claimed too much of her life to walk off after a simple graduation. The headmaster was still talking, but Hermione barely heard him. She was too wrapped up in her own thoughts and emotions. As Dumbledore began calling out the names to get their diplomas, Hermione snapped to attention. She knew she would be overwhelmed when Harry and Ron received theirs and she couldn't miss that moment.

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And there was me and you

And then we got real cool

Stay at home talking on the telephone with me

We'd get so excited, we'd get so scared

Laughing at ourselves thinking life's not fair

And this is how it feels 

Hermione mulled over all the emotions the two of them had aroused in her. As Lavender Brown stepped down from the stage, Hermione remembered fondly of the night Ron had spent telling Hermione all about how he had this huge crush on Lavender, and how he was going to ask her out the next day. As Vincent Crabbe got his diploma-which he very nearly didn't-Hermione thought of all the times the three of them had fought of Draco and his cronies. Each student brought back something, a memory that wrenched at her heart, thinking they may never do things like that again. She would miss them terribly. More tears now, bittersweet, as she watched the number of people in line before her to graduate dwindle and become lesser. 

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As we go one

We remember

All the times we

Had together

And as our lives change

Come whatever

We will still be

Friends Forever

Albus Dumbledore called out, "Granger, Hermione" and Hermione stepped forward. The crowd was applauding softly and the graduation march played in the background. Her hand was visibly trembling as she reached forward to take her diploma. He smiled at her as she picked up her tassel, moved it to the other side of her hat, and stepped down to stand with her classmates. She looked to Ron and she winked, and he smiled, and she looked to Harry and he waved, and she smiled. Her friends, her brothers, her soulmates. Graduating and possibly leaving her life forever. She couldn't bear it.

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So if we get the big jobs

And we make the big money

When we look back now

Will our jokes still be funny?

What would happen, now that they weren't students anymore? Where would they go, what would they choose, how far would they make it? Would anyone remember anything or anyone here at Hogwarts? Or would they move on, and forget their childhood and adolescence? How would they all deal with it? Was she the only one brought to tears at the thought of leaving Hogwarts, her dear friends, and her classes? 

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Will we still remember everything we learned in school?

Still be trying to break every single rule

Will little brainy Bobby be the stockbroker man?

Can we ever find a job that won't interfere with a tan?

Harry's name, magically amplified so all of the people watching could hear, resounded over the meadow. Hermione watched in joy and sadness as he, too, took his diploma, moved his tassel, and stood next to her. In one swift movement, she transported her diploma to her other hand and took Harry's in her own. He looked at her and he grinned, and she did too. A tear fell from his eye, rolled down his cheek and died on his lip. Hermione's tears were already flowing freely. She knew that she had to tell him how she felt, but she would wait until the ceremony had finished. She had patience. 

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I keep, I keep thinking that it's not goodbye

Keep on thinking it's our time to fly

And this is how it feels

Hermione's brain still wasn't quite processing that she wouldn't be back at Hogwarts the next year. It wasn't possible, wasn't thinkable. Now it was Ron's turn, as one of the last, to graduate and officially leave Hogwarts. When he joined them, Hermione took his hand, too. They stood there, united, for the last few minutes that they had. Hermione than whispered to them, the words that had pounded in her head the last hour. The things she needed to tell them, or else it would end. It would all end. And she wouldn't let anything like that ever happen. 

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Will we think about tomorrow like we think about now?

Can we survive it out there?

Can we make it somehow?

I guess I thought this would never end

And suddenly it's like we're woman and men

"Harry, Ron-don't leave me!" Her whisper succumbed into quiet sobs, the most painful kind, as she thought of the horrible things that could happen if they broke apart. Her grip on their hands tightened, as if to reassure her. It seemed like hours before she continued. "I'm afraid that we won't be friends anymore after we leave! And that can't happen, it just can't, I can't you guys!" She cried. Out of the corner of her eye she could see tears streaming from both of her friend's eyes. She knew that she had connected with them in some way.

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Will the past be a shadow that will follow us 'round?

Will these memories fade when I leave this town?

I keep, I keep thinking that it's not goodbye

Keep on thinking it's our time to fly

Hermione's voice, almost failing her, squeaked out what she wanted them to most know so that if they ever did leave each other, they would remember this one thing. They would think fondly of their years at Hogwarts with each other, because of this. She smiled faintly, reminiscing, before the words left her lips. "I love you. Always." This was so incredibly true that Hermione almost shivered. She _did_ love them, with all her heart, and as long as they knew that, she was sure they wouldn't leave her. Their bond was too deep, too binding for that to happen. Hermione was finally comforted. She relaxed, because she was positive graduation couldn't break a friendship such as theirs. With renewed spirit, she looked at each of them and smiled broader than ever, because she knew.

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We will still be

Friends Forever


End file.
